The Beginning of the End
by Chocovian
Summary: Set in the future. A crossover where Percy and Annabeth's great-great grandchildren meet Peeta and Katniss' children. Full summary inside, and my first story.
1. Prologue

**Full Summary:** Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark have been through challenge after challenge-the two Hunger Games and then the rebellion against the Capitol. But now, they face another challenge, raising their two children without them knowing what their parents have been through as long as possible.

Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase have beat all odds and are still alive, something that usually doesn't happen with demigods, especially powerful ones like themselves. They settled down after they defeated Kronos and Gaea from destroying civilization. They had kids, still went to camp for the summers, and eventually just died. Their parents did look down on their descendants but the two did leave something for the future generations to come.

Now, in the future, Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase's great-great grandchildren discover their legacy while Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark's children also discover their own parents' past. When they meet up, something unexpected might happen. Will they kill each other or will something even more dangerous happen?

**Prologue**

The woods were dark and quiet, just how the hunter liked it. There was no one to disturb her now. She always knew that she could do her work best if there was no one else, even though she did miss the company of her best friend.

_But it doesn't matter anymore,_ she thought bitterly, _those memories are too hard to think of._

Closing her eyes, she thought back to the day when she saw the flames erupt, eating up her sister, her sweet, innocent little sister. She hadn't been able to see much of the world, _but then again, there wasn't much to see._ Katniss Everdeen chuckled at her own little joke, but then thinking of her sister's short life, she wiped it immediately. She thought of the last time that she saw the little girl. Prim had just turned around to see her sister calling her, but then, the last parachutes went off- the ones that killed the other children in the rebellion.

She opened her eyes again, just in time to see the beautiful sunrise. _I wish Peeta was here to see this_, she thought wistfully. Then, she retracted that thought. _No, he probably wouldn't have been able to get up this early. And I need some time to myself. _She continued on to the fence, in her regular hunter jacket and black boots, her hair tied into its signature braid behind her back.

Even though President Snow wasn't in charge in more, some customs were too hard to break habit of. She crawled underneath the hole in the fence, then turned around to see District 12 one last time before she went off for her daily hunt.

She went to the usual hollow log to retrieve her bow and sheath of arrows and went to go find some animals that would be nice for Sae's food for that night. She smiled when she thought of how that night's dinner would go. As usual, she would probably just stay quiet while Peeta told her about the rebuilding plans of 12 and the rest of Panem. Thinking about 12's rebuilding, she decided to write a letter to her mother or call her to see how everything was going in 4.

The rest of her day went by fairly quickly. Before she knew it, she was walking back to the log to return the bow and arrow. It had been an eventful morning; more animals had been out today than any other for the past few months. She had also gotten enough fresh herbs and flowers for home, too. She continued to walk to the fence and just like always, it wasn't charged. _Figures. They still won't waste anything on us, not until they finish rebuilding all of Panem._

Walking past the rubbles of some leftover buildings, she couldn't believe the other part of town with all of construction machines was all in the same place. _Maybe the people of Panem _can_ changes their ways_, she thought on her way to give the meat of to Sae. She made a mental note to herself to ask her mom to get a gift for her. After all, she had done so much for Katniss and Peeta after the rebellion.

When she knocked at Sae's door and gave her the meat, she gave her a nod and said "I'm sure I can make a good soup out of this." Then made a bit of small talk to make sure that Katniss was following the schedule the Capitol doctors had given her. Sae said that she would stop by a little later with the soup and then turned around back inside her home.

Katniss stayed where she was instead of moving, wondering how she'd tell Peeta the news, but figured it would have to come up eventually, so she turned around and started her little journey to the bakery where her husband usually spent his time.

_As usual_, she thought when she heard the little chime of the bakery door as it opened and closed with a small thud. _He's nowhere to be found. _She had to resist the urge to call out his name and decided to just sit down in own of the nearby chairs to smell the familiar fragrances. She rubbed her stomach- a little habit she's picked up on over the past few days while hoping she would be able to break the news to Peeta. She closed her eyes to think about what life would have been like if none of the horrible stuff had happened, if no one had died, would she still have been where she was today? She smiled to herself thinking that Peeta would find his way to her anyway.

Then, she opened her eyes suddenly. _Maybe this isn't such a good idea. It won't be very long before he comes out to check if there's anyone waiting. I'll just wait until later._

And just like every day for the past 4 days, Katniss walked out again of the bakery silently, not ready to share the news, again. Half way on her way to the Victor's Village, she decided that she had to tell him, by the end of the day at the latest.

And that was how the next hour of Katniss's day was spent- walking back and forth between the bakery and the Victor's Village, not sure on what she should do. Finally, when she could take it no longer and was finally fed up with herself, she stormed into the bakery, ready to get it over with. And quite frankly, she didn't even care what he said. She just needed it off of her mind!

When Peeta heard the door open, Katniss saw him walking out and talking his regular spot next to the counter, wiping his hands off on his apron and looked up, appearing tired. He saw Katniss walking toward him and smiled his huge grin. So big that Katniss almost mistook him for the kid that she first saw on her first day of school. Then, seeing Katniss's face, he instantly knew something was wrong with her.

"What's wrong, Katniss?" He used the same concerned voice of his when she looked like that. She decided to get right to the point to say, "Peeta, there's something I need to tell you."

* * *

><p>The young demigod was busy reminiscing about his adventures as a child when he first discovered the truth about his family. When he first found out that his father was actually a Greek God and that they were very much alive in the modern world. Although that may not have been the best day of his life or any of the days that led up to that day, there was one very interesting part of all of the quests he'd been on- or make that an interesting <em>person<em>.

Annabeth. That name had meant everything to him, no matter how tough the times had been. The name had kept him from going mad and he figured that it would always keep him normal- no matter who decided to destroy the world. And boy did that happen a lot.

At least, for now, there were no threats looming over the demigods of the world. He had already lost so many people that he knew personally, and he wasn't going to let anyone else die- not as long as he could stop them somehow.

He opened his eyes and, judging from the sun's position, he assumed it was somewhat midday.

Percy Jackson stood up from beneath the tree he was relaxing under in the middle of Central Park. He decided that he should start to get back home before his parents started to wonder where he was. Of course, tonight was very important to him. He needed to prepare.

On the short walk back to the apartment where he lived, he thought of the different ways to ask her. He told his parents and they were very proud of him, except his dad. His dad was… different. Sure, he was happy, but he still didn't think he should ask now. Instead, in a few years when he was older.

He thought back to the day he told his family and how they were very encouraging on this idea. They believed that it was time for him to make his own decisions about his life. Percy smiled as he quickly climbed up the stairs to the apartment that he lived in. It was near his parents' apartment, so he never really needed to worry about anything big. He could always turn to them in times of need.

He decided to start packing up. He would be heading to camp in a few days so he should be ready- just in case he wanted to leave early.

After he finished packing the essentials in his bag, he looked through his closet to decide what to wear for the important night. He had already decided on how he was going to do it, now he just needed the courage to do it.

He was certain that she would wear something amazing, she always did. It was something that made his world stop.

He exhaled nervously and started rummaging through his pocket until he got out his phone. He knew that phones were dangerous to demigods but he was able to get a special one from Camp Half-Blood. It allowed demigods to call people like a phone but it didn't send out the basic message to monsters saying _Pick me now! I want to die! _

He chuckled at the ingenious device and threw it up and down a couple of times before finding his stepdad's cell number.

He dialed up Paul's number and they arranged for a quick meeting at the nearest café for a quick little chat.

He wasn't sure how to ask the crucial question that would change his life eternally.

The only person he knew with that kind of experience was his stepdad.

They both met up at their favorite café in about 10 minutes. After having some small talk, Percy asked Paul how he asked his mom.

All Paul said was, "Make sure that she's happy. That's all it really takes. Because when you see her laughing, you won't be nervous. And that's how you'll know that she's the one for you."

Percy smiled, nodded and told his stepfather that he'd see him later. He had some things to prepare for that night.

After calling in an old friend for a bit of help and setting everything, Percy noticed that it was already time for the date and went to go pick up Annabeth.

He knocked on her apartment door and there she was, as beautiful as ever. Percy gave her the bouquet of red roses and took her hand to the limo waiting outside. He told the limo driver- his "old friend"- to go to the location. After what seemed like no time at all- because it was- Percy took Annabeth by the hand and they entered a restaurant that looked out on the Eiffel Tower and the rest of the Parisian skyline.

Annabeth looked kind of surprised but seemed to be glowing to be back in Paris again after a few years. They both ate their dinner pretty quietly and ate the best dessert the both of them had ever had. When they were done, before leaving the restaurant, Percy took Annabeth up to the roof of the restaurant where he would ask her.

He took a deep breath and walked to the middle of the balcony on the roof. He got down on one knee while holding her hand, looked up at her and said the words "Will you marry me?"

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note: I wrote this two years ago for a school project and am posting this before I lose the guts for it. Let me know what you think! I have the entire thing written, but I want to know how many people are interested. So please, read and review!<strong>

**And for those of you kinda confused, ****each part of the story is meant ot take place in their own time periods. That means Percy and Annabeth's part is present-day, after BoO and Katniss and Peeta's part is post-Mockingjay, pre-epilogue. Hope that helps and happy holidays!**


	2. Chapter 1

**So I'll be alternating POVs, first starting with Katniss and Peeta's daughter. Her name is Rosella, and read more to find out!**

~*~Rosella~*~

There were so many things in her life that made her who she was today. On the short walk from home to school, walking with her little brother, she thought of all of the moments in her life that made her smile. She thought back to when Alex was born, when she first met her best friend, her birthday parties, her first day of school, and so many more recollections jumbled around in her head.

But the one thing that stuck out in her mind the most was that one day that she actually found a guy, well… _cute_.

She was like any other teenager, but she never tried acting like one. She thought that she was more like her mom than anyone. She had been the same way when she was that age. But she had a different reason.

_Not something that she would actually bring up in front of me, though,_ she thought still reminiscing.

"Look out!" a familiar voice screamed at her.

She looked up a little too late and slipped on the crack in the sidewalk in front of the school. She groaned in pain as she rubbed her forehead and side thinking that they might have become bruised.

She heard a little giggle but still saw the small hand reach out for her. She grabbed it and said thanks to Alex.

"Are you okay?" he asked still laughing a little.

"Fine, just fine. Just… thinking." She looked down at her brother. "Why are you looking at me like that?" she said suspiciously.

"Nothing," he said, stifling a laugh, but he it was obvious that he couldn't hold it in any longer as his face was red from the pressure. But he ended up bursting out laughing. He was laughing so hard that she thought that there was something wrong with him.

_No_, she thought, this is normal. _Just when I thought that he was becoming a sane person, he acts up again._ She sighed heavily.

"Okay, what is it this time?"

"Your…face…was…hilarious!" he said in between laughs. He choked on the last few words that made her start laughing, too.

Shaking her head at her brother's stupidity, she checked her watch with the little gold swivels around the dial. "Oh, man! We'd better hurry up and get inside or we'll be late for homeroom!" she said tugging on her brother's hand.

She quickly dropped him off in his class, said goodbye, and hurried over to her class. She got there just in time as the bell rang for homeroom.

The rest of her day was uneventful, but that was nothing new. She liked to keep to herself and only talked when she wanted to. Then, at the end of math class, everybody darted out of the room from hunger. She, of course, walked with her friends talking about how the teachers were acting a little weird as if they were hiding something.

On their way down to the cafeteria, everything happened like it always did. They all got their lunch, which was probably going to be horrible, and made their way to their usual table.

"Hey, Rosella!" someone screamed from behind them. She turned around to see Amanda Wilson running up to her with a sheet of paper in her hand. She looked exhausted from running so Rosella just did her a favor and took the paper to see what was so important about it.

"Ha! Don't you know? Everyone calls her 'Rose' not by her full name!" her best friend Lucy James told Amanda.

"It's all right, Lucy. I don't mind." Rose mumbled, still intrigued by the paper. She looked up at Amanda.

"Why are you giving me this?" she wondered aloud, hoping that none of her friends saw what the paper said.

"Are you kidding me?! You'd be perfect for this. Everyone knows that," she said flabbergasted. Her voice changed into a pleading, almost begging sound, and then, she started holding her hands as if in a prayer.

"Please? You'd be incredible. And, besides, we need someone good. I don't think anyone actually has any _talent_," she said, winking at her. "Get it? Talent? It's a talent show! Gosh, I crack myself up," she stated while wiping away a fake tear.

Rosella couldn't decide so she just said, "I'll think about it. But that's not a promise!"

"That's good enough for me." Amanda shrugged and walked off back to her lunch.

"Talent show, huh? Are you actually going to do it? 'Cause if you do, _someone_ will notice you." Lucy said as she nudged her friend's shoulder.

"I don't know. I'll have to think about it." Rosella said that to end the conversation but she silently made a mental note to herself to ask her mom for some advice.

At the end of the day, as always, Rose found her brother getting out of his class waving good-bye to his teacher. Rose smiled thinking that he was just as friendly as their father and was like him in every other way, too. From his blond curls to his sweet personality that made everyone want to smile just being with him. All he had were Mom's gray eyes.

They went through their usual routine as every other day. They went to the library to see if they wanted anything, then walked down to their father's bakery.

At the bakery, it seemed like any other day- packed. Everyone seemed to love the cakes that Dad made. For any and every occasion, Dad would make any type of cake that anyone wanted. And after school, Rose and Alex were always willing to help.

It smelled sweet and fresh, cinnamon-y and sugary, anything that someone could expect in a bakery. To make it better, there was also ice cream, candies, pastries, and any other type of dessert that a person could ask for. It seemed like one of the places that a kid could get lost in, sweet heaven!

Rose and Alex went behind the counter to get their aprons on when their father saw them and grinned.

"Ready to help, guys?" their father asked, already knowing the repetitive answer.

"Any day, Dad! Bring it on!" Alex said!

Rose smiled, thinking that only her brother could do something like that to make her smile.

They quickly got to work and anytime that they got a break in between customers, they took a quick break to snack on something.

By about 7:30 later that evening, they seemed to be finally done with all of their customers and were exhausted. They were open for another half hour, but as no one was coming, they "closed" early or just took a break and did nothing for the time.

Dad went into the back room to grab something, so Rosella went to help him. Dad opened the fridge and took out a magnificent piece of art work, which was edible, obviously.

"For Mom, yeah?" she asked him, quietly. It appeared appropriate to whisper in the presence of something so glorious.

He nodded. "When you and Alex were making those personalized cakes the other day, it became this. All I did was put it together. So really, you two made the cake all by yourself."

Rosella noticed that he was referring to the conversation the two of them had in the morning. She wanted to know when they would be able to make something on her own like her dad. All he said was "soon enough" and gave her a mischievous grin.

"You're kidding, right? We couldn't have made this for the anniversary," she told him. That was when she saw the little designs that she put on her cake and the ninjas on her brother's.

"Come on. Help me box and take it out, huh?" he said while taking the cake out.

She nodded silently and grabbed the box to pack it in. When they finally got it out of the back, they saw Alex pumping his fists. He stopped when he saw them and ran over to see what they were holding.

"Ah. I know what this is for!" Alex said excitedly. "Now, we just need to get this home without Mom noticing it. Do you think she's waiting for us?"

Rosella and Dad just shrugged and saw that everyone else had left. They looked at the clock and it read **8:13**.

"Come on, let's get this home for tomorrow." Dad said.

The two children grabbed all of their things while their father closed shop. They took the sleek black car in the empty parking lot after they packed everything up. The drive didn't seem very long and were relieved when they saw that the lights were off inside the house. They quietly snatched everything that they needed with Dad carrying the cake. They entered and turned on the lights and settled down while Dad quickly stashed the cake in the second fridge in the garage.

He came back into the house and asked, "Have you seen Mom yet?" When they both shook their heads without looking up from their homework, he said, "Okay, I'll be right back. Stay inside and don't open the door to anyone."

The young kids knew not to mess with their dad when he was that serious. They had always been taught to be careful wherever they happened to be. If they were alone or with their parents, be on the lookout for trouble, because there probably would be somewhere around the corner.

It was how they were raised, to always be able to defend themselves. Their parents had taught them ever since they were young how to do many different things. They were able to hunt, swim, climb, ride horses, use a knife and a gun, and as well as martial arts. They knew they weren't allowed to use it anyone or anything, not unless there was real trouble.

When Dad had left the house, there was a tense air above the two siblings. They looked at each other and nodded. They went to go get their weapons, in case Mom and Dad didn't come back in at least 10 minutes. Any longer after that, they would go out themselves to look. That had been a silent agreement between all four Mellarks in the households.

They had set a timer after Dad had left on all of their devices that could be remotely turned off on either Rosella or Alexander's iPhones. They tried as hard as they could to do their work, but they were just too worried. This had become normal routine for them, but this issue always worried them.

Just before the timer hit the 10 minute mark, the lock for the main door made a sound and the door opened up. In the doorway were Mom and Dad laughing. They saw their children's faces that looked shocked at them. Mom ran over to them, knelt down to them, and hugged them close.

"Are you two okay?" she asked, very worried about them.

"Yeah, we're fine, Mom. Where were you?" Alex said.

"Oh, I was just in town checking to make sure that everyone was fine and prepared for the storm that's supposed to hit tonight."

They both nodded while their father went to the fridge to get something for dinner.

"Hey, Mom. I need your help on a project. Do you think you can or should I ask Dad?" Rosella asked, a little hesitant on what she was about to do.

"Of course, what is it?"

She took a deep breath. "I have to interview you and Dad about The Hunger Games."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: So I want to thank everybody that's read this so far! And to the one person who has reviewed and to the one who has favorited and followed: thank you so much! It means a lot to me! :D This goes out to you PrincessKatniss02 and Surkrem. And of course, ImaginativeGirl1 who was he first person to read this and was my own beta. Please read and review, and until next time! :D**


	3. Chapter 2

**And here we go with the next chapter! Thanks to everyone who's read so far! :D**

~*~Nicholas~*~

It seemed like the problems never ended. He quickly ran out of his house and just tried as hard as he could to could to calm himself down. He knew what happened if he got too mad, he could blow up, quite literally.

He heard the loud voices coming from inside. He could pinpoint everyone's voices exactly, his mother, father, and his grandfather. He let out his breath not realizing that he was holding it in the first place.

He was the reason of the fight. Gramps had allowed him to go and stargaze with him, but it seemed his parents had other ideas.

"You know he can't come with you! That's why he can't go anywhere!" he heard his father scream.

"I'll be with him, he'll be safe. You both know he will, so why don't you let him?" It was obvious to hear the anger and outrage in his grandpa's voice, although he could also hear the pleading in his voice.

He wanted to just go in and stop all of the yelling and fighting, but if he did go in, they would probably start yelling at _him_.

Instead, he just went up to his little tree house he built with his dad when he was four. He sat down at the entrance and just laid down and looked out at the stars. He just stayed there, remembering all of the good times in his tree house.

He did think that he was getting a little old for it, but it was his little "hideout" place, after all. He didn't mind staring at the stars, passing time rather than listening to the fighting inside. He tried looking for all of the constellations that he was taught when he was younger by his Dad and Gramps, then just decided on looking for his favorites.

Stargazing was their thing, before all of the little…problems erupted. He didn't understand half of them, but he knew most of them had to do with him. He knew just the thing to calm him down- thinking about everything that was said to be "impossible".

He sighed deeply, wishing that he could just go back to his childhood days when his family didn't mind him doing whatever he wanted and he was just free.

He glanced down at his watch, but looking at the time, he didn't seem intent on moving and hearing the fight again.

After a while, he couldn't take the silence any longer. Nick pushed himself up ready to get moving back to the house. He knew that even if they weren't done bickering, he was going to stop them. He climbed down the ladder, and began the walk to home, but he still wasn't ready to move.

He took a deep breath and decided to just get it over with. He looked up at the stars one last time and smiled thinking that everything would work out.

He walked into his house and was taken back. It was quiet, quieter than it normally should be there. Something he hadn't experienced in a long time, only when everyone is asleep.

"Is everything all right?" Nick asked his mom, who was sipping a warm cup of coffee at the dinner table.

She smiled, in what seemed sort of like a forced smile at the moment. "Of course it is, honey. Why wouldn't it be?"

He decided not to answer that question and just went over to the fridge to get a late night snack. He peeked his head over to the living room and saw his sisters working on their laptops, his grandfather was writing and his dad was nowhere to be found.

"Where's Dad?" he asked, to no one in particular.

"Right here," his dad replied, coming down the stairs with an envelope in his hand. "Need anything?" he asked, as he came into the kitchen.

He silently shook his head, shut the refrigerator door and took a banana from the fruit bowl instead.

"Tell you what, how about you take a walk with me?" Nick looked into his father's eyes and knew that something must be up. They rarely ever did anything together outside of the house at night anymore, not unless it was something particularly important.

"All right, let's go," Nicholas told his dad and went over to get his coat from the hall closet.

When he got back to the dining room, he heard the end of his parents' conversation. "…it'll be all right, don't worry."

He sighed, knowing that they were talking about him again.

Dad turned around and smiled at him. "Come on, let's get going, sport."

_Okay, maybe it's not so bad_, Nick thought, smiling and left the house after his dad.

They walked down the sidewalk and into the street where they saw most of the shops closing up for the night. Nick saw a family walk out of the bakery, the father had a box in his arms and the children had their bags over their shoulders.

He smiled thinking about the girl. She was about his age and was in his grade in school.

He looked up, expecting his father's face, but instead, he saw nothing. He tried to keep himself calm, knowing that Dad would be around there somewhere. He looked around frantically, only to see his father walk out of the post office. With a few cookies in his hand, it seemed like.

"Want one?" Dad asked him, taking a bite out of one.

Nick took one, grateful that his father hadn't seen his face. He must have been thinking about that girl for a while. Long enough, apparently, that his father was able to slip away and get his work done.

"So, what's her name?" Dad asked, trying to sound casual, while holding out the cookies once more.

Nick blushed furiously while grabbing a cookie. "Don't know yet. Haven't had the courage to find out."

His father smiled. "Women. Seems like life's greatest mystery. Come, let's take a walk."

Nick followed him down the streets and waved to the last people closing their shops. He felt something cold hit his nose and looked up.

"First snow of the season?" he asked, captivated by the beauty of the snowflakes falling.

His father chuckled, also appearing mesmerized. "Beautiful!" The one word was enough to capture everyone's thoughts.

Other people also saw the snow and began to exit their houses to be a part of the beautiful sight. Some of the children began spinning around in the soft snow. Others began to catch the little snowflakes on their tongue. Nick tried to do the same thing and flinched at the cool touch on the tip of his tongue.

"So, where are we headed?" he asked his dad.

"I was thinking about the little hill to do some stargazing. Fine with you?"

Nick grinned widely at his father. "I'll race you there! Tag! You're it!"

He got a head start with his father still stunned. "Gotcha!" was all the young boy said to his father, standing triumphantly at the top of the hill. His father exaggerated the last few steps and raised his hands in mock surrender. He laid down a blanket at the top and gestured to Nick.

They both laid down, hands behind their heads, watching the snow fall underneath the bright moon and the glistening stars. Occasionally, they pointed out constellations or told the other about the stories about the heroes shown in the sky.

"All right, Dad. What's the real reason that we're here?" When his father didn't answer, he pressed on. "Come on, Dad. There's a real reason that you and Mom wouldn't let me go with Gramps. Wherever he was going to take me, anyways."

Dad sighed deeply. "You heard that, huh?" He looked over at his son's face and saw the innocence in his eyes.

"Well, Nicholas. I'm pretty sure by now that you know that we aren't like everyone else. Our family has always been special. I bet you found that out on your own." He turned back up to the stars and paused for what seemed like eternity.

"Sport, there are some things that you should now about us. All of us."

"Dad, you aren't making any sense. You know that?" Nick was hoping that his father would just laugh and stop being so solemn, but then his father turned to face him- very seriously.

"Nick." He looked very impatient then took a deep breath and said, "How about I just start from the beginning. I bet that would help." He saw his son nod and turned back up to the stars.

"At first, I thought it was just a story myself. But then. Well, I saw some things that didn't seem true. And the only thing that helped me believe them were some stories that your grandfather told me when I was little."

Nick still had no idea what Dad was talking about. So instead of asking questions, he just waited a while longer to see if his father's story would begin to make sense.

Dad stopped for a while to see how Nick was following through with him. At his clueless face, he began on a different track.

"Sport, do you remember those bedtime stories that Mom and I used to tell you when you were little?" He seemed like he was about to break some hard news and had a very grave face.

Nick tried to think back to all those years ago when Mom and Dad told him about those brave heroes who saved the world. "I think so. The Greek myths, yeah?"

His father nodded. "Those are real, not myths. Son, we are demigods, too."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Once again I want to thank all of you who have read this. And of course, my personal beta ImaginativeGirl1. Don't forget, please review after reading!**


	4. Chapter 3

**Thanks to the ones who have been reading! Would love to know your thoughts on this, so please review when you get the chance! Back to the story, and remember: I don't own any of the original characters or the story lines, just this plot and these new characters. :D**

~*~Rosella~*~

When she asked the question for her project, she hadn't exactly planned out what the reaction would be. She had thought that they would've been mad, considering what they've been taught about in school.

She had kind of been expecting someone to get so mad that they would go talk to the teacher and revise the project to something a little more… well, appropriate.

The whole idea of these "Hunger Games" seemed like a pointless and a cruel punishment by the Old Capitol.

What kind of government had their citizens come and kill each other each year? Just to remind them that they were under the _mercy_ of the government. That the Capitol was actually a forgiving body and this was their way of cruel entertainment.

Rose had the most disgusting visions in her head on what people must have done back then. They had learned some things in class so far, just the basics.

They had watched a video, something apparently shown every year to the citizens of Panem, to remind them of why they had the Hunger Games. And then, the teacher just went on and on about all of the terrible things.

She thought she was going to be sick, but it was good information for her, so she would know what she was doing.

She couldn't believe how each year 24 kids, split equally between the two genders had to kill each other so that only one could come out as the "victor" and be showered with the Capitol's "generosity".

She didn't believe a word of it and when the project was assigned, she deemed it was up to her and her friends to find out the truth about these "Games". And so far, she didn't like how it was turning out. She expected her parents to kind of rebel against it somehow, even though it was long gone.

But instead, her dad got the food out of the fridge and was just standing near the counters, hands holding the edges, knuckles turning white. She hoped that she didn't trigger an episode from him.

She turned to her mom, seeing her stiffen a little. She told Alex to take his stuff upstairs and do his work in his room for a while, probably not wanting him to hear the horrors at such a young age.

Her brother looked a little scared. So, he got all of his stuff and went up the steps, slowly, hoping to prolong the wait and maybe hear snippets of the conversation.

Rosella stood alone in the middle of the room, and frankly, she didn't like it at all. Her mother was sitting in front of her on the couch and her father was still standing in the kitchen.

"Mom? Dad? Are you okay?" she asked, very concerned at the reaction.

Her father nodded, while her mother was just muttering, "Not now. Why now?"

"What's wrong?" She was now truly scared of this response and was hoping for more.

She watched her father come over to them and sit next to Mom. "It's all right, Katniss. They had to find out soon." Dad turned to her and said, "Sweetie, you're gonna want to take a seat. This is a long story."

Rose was really scared now. She didn't think she ever saw her parents looked so determined and confident for something like this.

She slowly walked over to the nearest couch and gently took a seat on the edge as if it was going to explode.

Mom smiled. "It's all right, sweetheart. We're just going to talk. No need to be afraid."

At that, she relaxed a little, still not sure what was going to happen. She rearranged herself and sank slightly deeper into the couch, hoping that it would consume all of her fears.

Rose thought that she was going to be sick. Her parents explained more about the Games than it could ever be explained in school.

Her parents had actually been in the arena together. Forced to kill each other. Twice. And had still managed to stay alive and with each other.

She groaned inwardly. She had no idea how they could be so perfect for each other. They had still managed to defy all odds and continuously fought back against anyone and everyone.

She only wished that she could be that strong. So as she walked down the street, she could only wonder if she could be as passionate as her parents in fighting for a cause.

The Games were wrong and they both stood with each other, no matter what the situation called for.

She hugged her small, but tall figure closer to fight off the strong wind. The small, quick breeze blew her open hair in front of her face and her headband didn't keep all of it back as she hoped. And just as it came, it left. It was still snowing, it was slow, then for a bit went a little faster, then slowed again.

She noted that it was getting a little late, but she knew that her parents wouldn't come after her- for a while, at least. _At least it looks a little pretty out here, the snow on the trees and little icicles on the edges, _she thought, and then went back to her original thought process.

She kicked the accumulating snow in front of her. _How could people watch those Games for fun and not do anything about it?_ Rosella couldn't believe how some people could be so senseless and not think about things.

She was so mad at everyone for no apparent reason that she didn't notice the person walking right towards her. Until it was too late.

She crashed into the boy and they both fell in the snow with her on top. She was so embarrassed at how she could walk without looking. She picked herself up and offered the boy a hand. He took it and started wiping his pants clean of the snow.

Rose stared at the boy, thinking that he looked familiar. Until it clicked. This was the same boy that she might have… feelings for. She shuddered at the thought of how she could like someone with a disaster in her mind taking place.

He saw her trembling body and stepped a little closer. Noticing this, she stepped back automatically.

He put his hand out, clearly trying to calm her down. "Hi, I'm Nick." Expecting her to reply, he was a little shocked to see how she just glared at him and walked off.

She was still having her internal battle that she didn't want to talk to anyone, even if that included Nick. She figured that she was just letting her emotions take over her as they usually do.

She knew she shouldn't and that she should at least try to talk to the boy. After all, she _was_ the one who walked into him. She sighed and turned around, almost crashing into the young man again.

She giggled slightly as he. "Let's start over, shall we?" He nodded. "My name is Rose."

"And I'm still Nick." He grinned widely and she knew she couldn't stay mad at him.

"So, Rose. Why are you out alone on a night like this? Taking advantage of it being break, eh?"

She smirked at him. "Why, is that what you're doing?"

He put up his hands. "Okay, you got me. Guilty as charged." Rose chuckled slightly at the boy. "No, really. Why are you here?"

Her smile faltered a bit and she motioned her head ahead of them so they could continue walking. She knew she shouldn't reveal much so she decided to keep it simple. "I just found out some disturbing details about my parents' childhood. I couldn't exactly stand it, so I thought it would be best to take a little walk to clear my mind. I tend to get a little… agitated and get mad pretty easily. You probably realized that by now on your own."

He shrugged at her and just said, "Don't worry, I'm used to that and I don't really mind your temper levels."

Rose was taken back. Usually when she told people stuff like that, they would be worried about her and trying to take care of her. But evidently, Nick wasn't people and he didn't want to tell Rosella what to do with her life. _Just how I like it,_ she thought, smiling at him.

"All right. You know why I'm here. What's your story, then?" she asked him, now becoming a little suspicious at how he just materialize in the same area where she was walking.

He didn't answer at first, which made little alarms go off in her head at how she shouldn't trust him. She quickly went through everything that he said to her, making her mind go to its top speed and overload to see whether or not he was safe or not. After a few quick inspections in her little mind computer, things she had practice doing with anyone or anything, she deemed that he was safe. Which only led to one explanation to his delay- he had problems to deal with just like her, but wasn't able to open up in front of anyone.

After what seemed like hours to Rose once she left her safe place in her mind, Nick finally spoke up again. He cleared his throat, but his voice seemed a little wobbly.

"I… I also found something about my family. My dad just explained my whole ancestor's lifetime in, like, a half hour. I thought I should walk home on my own rather than with him, just to think, you know." He still looked a little shaken, but Rose could tell that he was trying as hard as he could to stay calm.

"Hey, don't worry. I'm sure it all work out," she said to him, as she put her hand on his shoulder. "Here's an idea. You can come home with me instead of going home until you're ready to leave?" Not waiting for the reply, she took his arm and dragged him to her home.

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><p>AN: Don't forget to read and review! Thanks to my personal beta ImaginativeGirl1 and all you who have reviewed!


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